Charging, Tolling & Road Pricing

ASECAP, the European association of operators of toll road infrastructures is organising a high level conference to analyse the impact of the new European Directive on the award of concession contracts across Europe, focusing specifically on the transport sector. The conference, whose theme is Concession model, an efficient tool to foster growth across Europe: how to build a level-playing field to attract private investors, will be held on 30 March 2015 from 1030 to 1630 at the European Economic and Soc

According to Belarus official news agency (BelTA) the country is to expand its network of toll roads under the BelToll system by more than 300 kilometres in 2015. Belarus currently has 1,189 kilometres of toll roads. The five-year state program for the development and maintenance of roads states that by 2020 the toll road system will include 1,968 kilometres of highways. BelToll, a digital system designed to collect tolls by using short-range radio technology, went live in Belarus in August 2013. In A

Sustainable transport group Transport & Environment has welcomed the announcement by Violeta Bulc, the EU’s head of transport, of plans to develop a Europe-wide scheme to charge lorries and cars for using roads. Bulc stressed that the scheme would be optional, meaning that countries could opt out if they want to. She also emphasised that the fee should be based exclusively on the distance driven and should not be time-dependent, which would bolster more efficient use of roads. European countries curre

In a contract valued at US$1.8 million, Q-Free Netherlands is to supply Raytheon with automatic licence plate recognition (ALPR) systems for its Massachusetts Department of Transport (MassDot) all electronic toll system project in the US. The contract comprises Q-Free’s Intrada ALPR which automatically reads licence plate numbers from still images, together with Intrada VSR which identifies vehicles even if the licence plate is partially occluded, by matching the image to an earlier surveillance. The con

According to transport planning consultancy Steer Davies Gleave (SDG), the experiences of European cities like London, Milan and Stockholm show that implementing a congestion charging scheme has a positive effect on road user behaviour leading to a better quality of life for residents. However, it also poses challenges for decision makers, technicians, the private sector and users. In Latin America, where congestion levels are high and continuing to rise in its major cities, there is an opportunity to le

Oregon’s Department of Transportation (ODOT) has preliminarily chosen Sanef, Verizon and telematics company Azuga as vendors in the nation’s first large scale pay-by the mile road usage charge (RUC) program, according to Michelle Godfrey, the program’s public affairs officer. Sanef was selected as the ODOT account manager to provide full turnkey mileage reporting and account management equipment and operations. The company served as the account manager in Oregon’s earlier pilot project. Verizon, alon

Since it launched on 30 November last year, Dart Charge has already helped to speed up journeys by removing the need to stop at a barrier to pay the Dartford Crossing charge. To get the most benefit from the changes, the UK Highways Agency has developed a new way of identifying and managing over-height vehicles and dangerous loads before they enter the tunnel, a job that until now was carried out at the payment barriers. All major tunnels have rules about what substances can be taken through them an

Executive director and CEO of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA), Patrick D. Jones, has made a statement on the State of the Union Address, saying: “In his State of the Union Address tonight, President Obama said that Republicans and Democrats must work together to make critical repairs and improvements to our long-neglected transportation infrastructure. As the economy starts back on the right track, Congress can rescue this vital part of our economic engine from further d

Göteborg, Sweden, city officials are looking at alternative ways to improve air quality in the city after a proposed congestion charge was rejected by citizens in a referendum last September. A study commissioned by the City Executive Office has been examining the impact of a number of different initiatives, including more accessible, free or reduced-price public transport, and speed restrictions. “There is no other single measure that has the same effect on the environment and congestion that the cha